Review: "You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty" by Akwaeke Emezi

Quick Summary

Type: Novel

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+, African-American fiction

Back Cover: "Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again.

It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.

She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love?

Read Time: 5 days

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review

I am not a fan of romance. I find that often, romances tend to rely a lot on miscommunication and manufactured drama. Personally, I feel like the reason for this is because there's not a ton of plot inherent in a lot of romances, and so when there's a failure to flesh out characters, then the author relies on miscommunication and manufactured drama to move the story forward and lengthen the book. And if we're completely honest, there were a few times during this book that I felt there was some maybe unnecessary conversations meant not to move the story forward but rather to make the book longer.

But for the most part, I felt that the conflict of the story came very naturally. There is inherent drama in falling in love with the father of the guy you've been kind of seeing for a few months. And so I did really enjoy that; none of the drama felt very forced.

There were a few things that did feel forced, however. I wasn't a huge fan of the instant love between Feyi and Alim - they have a few deep conversations, but Feyi is completely in love with Alim very shortly into her stay at his home. Meanwhile, once they have a conversation about their feelings, Alim expresses very similar sentiments. Not to mention, they start heavily making out nearly as soon as Nasir is out of the house for his business trip. So it all felt a little rushed.

And then there's the argument with Nasir. Naturally, he is pissed off to find out about Feyi (the girl he was super into) and his dad. This is a completely natural reaction, and while his outbursts aren't great, they're understandable - he's just experienced a massive betrayal. Anger, resentment, and sadness are understandable and even appropriate emotions to feel. But right near the end of the book, he has a mostly civil conversation with Feyi about what happened, and end the conversation by advising her to tell his father she loves him. That definitely, definitely felt forced. I understand the need for romances to have 'happily ever afters', but I probably would have preferred a less American, more realistic ending.

But despite these flaws, I still greatly enjoyed the book because the story was engaging enough and the writing was beautiful. Truly, the prose was terrific, so much so that I rated this at least half a point higher than I would have otherwise. I also liked that the characters were, for the most part, well developed. But really, the writing carried a lot of this book.